


Watching Cartoons

by allysonandrews1982 (FonzFan82)



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-06-05 13:50:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6706816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FonzFan82/pseuds/allysonandrews1982
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bernadette Fife and her friend, Lucy Taylor, watch cartoons. Bernadette and her brother, Barney Fife Jr. are very good friends with Lucy and her sister. Bernadette and Barney Fife Jr. are characters I've created for Andy Griffith Show, so feel free to look up the Andy Griffith Show to get a picture what Barney Fife looks like. Enjoy</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Bernadette Fife looked at the clock. It told her the time was only 2:38 in the afternoon. Today was only Saturday, so there was no need to prepare for school. The weekends was always one of Bernadette’s favorite time of the year. Her older brother, Bernard, was about three years older than she was. None of them were close, but they always communicated.

He preferred to be called Barney while you talk with him. He was named after their father, Bernard Fife Sr. That’s where she got her name also. Sometimes her brother would let you call him Bernie, depending on who was talking with the both of them. Her brother was home also, but she hadn’t seen him for a while. Whatever Barney could be doing, Bernadette decided to leave him alone so she wouldn’t disturb him.

After turning away from the clock in the living room, she decided now was a good time to watch some television. That was something she hadn’t done yet today. Then the telephone rang before she could reach out for the remote.

“I’ll get it!” she called out to Barney.

“Okay!” Barney returned.

Bernadette read the number. It was a friend of hers whose name was Lucy Taylor.

“Hi, Bernadette.”

“Hello, Lucy. How are you?”

“I’m doing good.”

Lucy Taylor was one of her good friends. Lucy also does have a sister who goes by the name Martha.

“What did you call for?” Bernadette asked her friend.

Unlike she and Barney, Lucy and Martha were both adopted, so they didn’t have any birth parents. Like her older brother, Bernadette looked like their father.

“What are you doing?” Lucy asked.

“I was just about to turn on the TV. What about you?”

“I just walked into the house.”

“Where did you go?” Bernadette asked.

“I was at the playground. I like the slides and swings the best.”

“So do I.”

“What do you want to watch on the television?” Lucy asked.

“I’m not sure. Maybe cartoons, but it depends what’s on.”

“Makes sense to me. Want me to come over and keep you company?”

“Only if you want to. Barney’s home today, but I’m not sure what he’s been doing. I haven’t seen him since lunchtime.”

“Wow. Would you check and see if it’s okay that I drop by?”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t care one way or the other, but I’ll do it anyway. I should be back shortly.”

Barney is fifteen years old and is a freshman in high school, and it looks to be a good school year for him. Bernadette is only twelve, but her thirteenth birthday is coming up in about five months. Bernadette was now at her brother’s door. She knocked on the door. There was silence in his bedroom. He opened the door.

“Hi, Sis.”

“Hi, Bro. Lucy Taylor is on the phone right now and she wants me to ask you something.”

“Ask away.”

“Is that okay if Lucy comes over for a while?”

“That’s fine. What have you been doing?” he asked.

“I was about to reach for the remote control. What about you?”

“Just doing my homework is all.”

“I see. Talk later.”

“Okay, Sis. I might come down and say hello to Lucy.”

“That’s fine.”

Then he watched his younger sister run downstairs as fast as she could. 

“I’m back,” Bernadette told Lucy.

“That didn’t take very long.”

“No, it didn’t. Barney says it’s all right with him that you can stay with us for a while. He’s mostly doing his homework at the moment.”

“Oh. I’ll be on my way. I’m going to tell Martha I’m going to be with you.”

“See you shortly,” Bernadette told her friend.

By that time, Lucy had already disconnected. Since she, Barney, Martha, and Lucy don’t have any parents sharing the same house, they mostly find a way for transportation.

Now Bernadette got the remote control from its regular spot, which was on the coffee table. She told herself it was going to be fun watching television with someone, even if it was her brother. Since she and Barney didn’t have any parents with them, she and her brother take turns with the responsibilities around the house. Since she was the one who did the cooking last night, that meant his turn is tonight.

Once Bernadette turned the television on, she flipped through all of the cartoon channels. Maybe Lucy could help her decide what the best station would be the right decision. The more Bernadette thought about it, the more she liked it. Once again she walked into the kitchen to see if there was any popcorn so she and Lucy could share. There was, so all she did was put it in the microwave. The popcorn was ready when Lucy arrived.

Bernadette walked out of the kitchen to answer the door. Today was windy, so Lucy wore a jacket.

“Come on in,” Bernadette told her friend.

“Thanks. Is that popcorn I smell?”

“Yes, it is,” she answered once Lucy shut the door.

That’s when Lucy took off her light orange jacket. This one was new, but it didn’t look familiar to Bernadette at all.

“Is that jacket of yours new? I don’t think I’ve seen it before.”

“Yes, it’s new. Martha bought for me.”

“That was nice of her.”

“I know. You do know that orange is one of my favorite colors.”

All Bernadette could do was nod her head.

“Would you like me to give you anything to drink?” Bernadette asked.

That’s when Barney came downstairs.

“Hi, Lucy.”

Lucy and Bernadette saw her brother walking into the kitchen. Both girls watched as he grabbed a tall glass from the cupboard and pour some water for himself.

“Hi, Barney.”

“I see you made some popcorn, Sis. Smells tasty to me. Are you both watching a movie?” he asked.

“Of course not. What’s wrong with having popcorn for a snack?”

Then he watched his younger sister turn the sink on and pour themselves a glass of water. If Lucy hung around for a while longer, maybe they could have some soda.

“There’s nothing wrong with that. I wish I could watch cartoons with you, but I do have a ton of homework that needs attention.”

“Maybe next time,” Bernadette told him.

“Maybe. It was nice to see you again, Lucy.”

“Same to you, Barney.”

As he headed back to his bedroom, he gulped some water as he slammed his bedroom door.

“He sure sounds busy,” Lucy told her.

“I know. He likes high school so far. It’s not far off for us when the time comes. I was flipping through all of the cartoon stations, but I think we can decide together.”

“I like the idea, Bernadette. What station did flip to first?”

“Disney. What do you think?”

“Disney it is,” Lucy told her.

“Okay. Let me flip to the Disney channel and we’ll go from there.”

“Fine with me.”

Once Bernadette turned to the channel, she joined Lucy on the couch.

“Now we can watch,” she told her friend.

Bernadette mostly enjoyed watching cartoons while Barney liked sports. His dream is to become a baseball player, so he joined the high school baseball team. It was the only sport that he was good at, and that made her happy he found something to join a sports team. Lucy only stayed for about an hour or two. She had to catch the 4:15 bus to get back home.

“I have to leave in an hour or so. Tonight’s my turn to prepare supper,” Lucy said.

“I cooked dinner last night, so it’s Barney’s turn.”

“That makes sense. I’m not sure what would work for tonight, but I’m sure I’ll find something.”

“I know you will.”

After the hour was up, both girls stood up so Lucy could get a move on. Bernadette watched as Lucy reached for her jacket on the dining room chair.

“It was fun watching cartoons with you, Bernadette. I shall look forward to seeing you on Monday.”

“I also had fun with you today also, Lucy. Next time, you and I will watch cartoons together at your house.”


	2. Chapter 2

A day or so later, Bernadette got together with Lucy again.

“Hi, Lucy.”

“Hi, Bernadette. Did you have fun when I was over at your house when we watched cartoons?”

“I sure did. If I didn’t invite you, I wouldn’t be watching those silly cartoons.”

“True that. Maybe next time you can sleep over and watch cartoons at my place.”

“What about Martha? She’s welcome to join us.”

“Thanks, Bernadette. Martha’s not too crazy about watching cartoons, but I’ll talk with her into joining us. She happens to think we’re too old for cartoons.”

When Bernadette heard that, she broke into laughter. When Bernadette finished laughing, she said, “You’re never too old for cartoons. My brother is the same way. You should know by now Barney’s interest is sports.”

“Thank you for reminding me. Martha’s starting to get more interested in books. She has never shown much interest with books, but somehow she’s changed that around for some reason.”

Lucy shrugged her shoulders where she said that.

“Everybody changes,” Bernadette reminded Lucy.

All Lucy could to at the moment was nod her head, letting her friend know she was on the same page.

Every once in a while Barney would tell Bernadette about when he dates a girl his age, and since Bernadette was younger, she does understand very little about dating, and Barney understood that. When she gets older and starts dating on her own, she knows Barney would be there to give her advice.

“I almost forgot to tell you, Bernadette. Martha told me that she is starting to date Barney. Has he said anything to you about that?”

“Not that I know of. He sometimes doesn’t tell me much. When we do starting dating boys, I do understand that Barney would do his best to tell me what I should do since he’s had experience with dating.”

“That’s for sure. I do know my sis would do the same thing. Actually, she did tell me that Barney is the second boy she’s ever dated.”

“Wow. I thought she had more experience than that,” she told Lucy.

“Nope. How many girls has Barney dated?”

“I think about three or four. Why do you bother asking a silly question like that?”

“I don’t know. I just did, that’s all,” was Lucy’s answer.

“That’s what I figured. When the time gets closer, I’ll ask Barney if he wouldn’t mind if I come to your house to watch cartoons.”

“I do know that Martha doesn’t mind. She actually does like you.”

“Tell Martha I say thank you.”

“I will do that, Bernadette.”

From what her friend had just said, she took Lucy’s word as a compliment. Sometimes she sees a compliment, and sometimes she misses it. This time there was no need to miss that one.

“Has Barney ever said anything similar to you like that?” Lucy asked.

“Not too often.”

Bernadette looked at her watch: three fifteen. She was enjoying Lucy’s company, and you should enjoy your friend’s company.

“Do you want me to ask him about Martha or do you think I should let him bring it up on his own?” Bernadette asked.

“I would vote for bugging him about it and see what he has to say,” Lucy answered as she began to giggle a second time.

When Lucy was giggling, Bernadette joined in on the laughing.

“I’ll keep that in mind until Barney notices that I’m very interested in Martha as his girlfriend. Has Martha said anything about how long she and Barney have started seeing each other as a couple?”

“Not a word. I’m sure Barney could tell you that.”

“I plan to share with you what Barney has shared with me,” Bernadette said and her laughter ended.

“Do you think I should do the same with my sister?”

“It’s up to you, Lucy. From what I’ve seen since we’ve met, you and Martha have a very close relationship as sisters.”

“Thank you, Bernadette. I’ll be sure to tell her you said that.”

“You don’t have to share with Martha if you don’t want to.”

“I’ll share anyway. I do know she’ll take that as a compliment.”

“That’s for sure. I will talk with you again soon.”

“All right. Tell Barney I say hello.”

“I will do that.”


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Bernadette and Barney sat down to eat their breakfast. As usual, she was the first to start a conversation with Barney. 

“Barney?”

“What?” he asked as he put some bread into his mouth.

Today both brother and sister were having toast and scrambled eggs. She’d only taken a couple bites of her scrambled eggs when she said his name.

“I know you’re thinking this subject sounds a bit too childish, but would you like to watch a cartoon or two with me? Just for memories?”

“When do you want to do that? You’re right this subject is childish.”

When he finished saying that, Barney burped.

“Excuse me,” he said to Bernadette in his most polite manners.

“That’s all right. I don’t mind listening to you burp.”

Barney laughed when she said that. To tell the truth, it is pretty humorous. Even Bernadette joined in on his laughter.

“Good one, huh?”

“For sure,” he agreed.

When he finished saying that, he started to hiccup.

“Are you okay?”

He couldn’t answer Bernadette because he had just started doing that, so all he could do was nod his head.

“Do you want to try some water for that?”

She started to get out of her chair and give Barney some water to stop his hiccups. She wasn’t expecting to have any answers from him, so she automatically did it. They both were having water with their scrambled eggs and toast. Today was his turn to do the cooking. Both of them take turns doing the cooking.

She did notice Barney’s glass of water was already empty, so she ended up pouring a fresh cup of water and returned to her seat. The water helped Barney a lot when he finished drinking some of the water she had given him, he asked, “What are we talking about again? I guess I was too busy having these hiccups.”

“We were talking about cartoons.”

“This is a childish subject. We’re teenagers now, so why would we bother watching cartoons?”

He knew by now that a lot of people had been saying you’re never too old to watch cartoons.

“I was just asking if you wanted to watch cartoons.”

“Aren’t you doing that with Lucy?”

Barney still wasn’t understanding where her question was.

“Lucy and I already have done that, remember?”

“Yes, I do remember, Sis. But I still don’t understand why you’re asking me such a question.”

“I see. I only thought I could do it with both of you. I did have an interesting conversation with Lucy when she was here to watch these Disney cartoons.”

“Tell me what the conversation you and Lucy had. Interesting topic, I hope.”

“It is. We were talking about dating.”

“What about it you both talked about?”

Now Bernadette was getting to notice Barney was interested in hearing about him and Martha.

“How long have you and Martha been seeing each other?”

“How did you hear that?”

Then he finally finished the scrambled eggs they were eating for breakfast that morning. He didn’t have a happy tone of voice, Bernadette told herself quietly.

“Lucy told me. Somehow Lucy thought this was worth sharing, and I happen to agree it is.”

“Maybe Lucy should have stayed out of my dating experience with Martha. I’ll talk about this with Martha and see if this was true she told Lucy. If Martha says yes, I’ll get you for this.”

“Lucy is the one you should blame, and not myself.”

“Sorry, Sis. You were the one who bought up the topic about dating. You’re the one who will be the one to blame.”

“Are you making me do something for that?”

“I’ll have to think you should let this be Lucy’s job and not me.”

“I just said to you, I’ll think about it.”

Once again she could tell he wasn’t in the mood for the conversation about dating and cartoons. He probably doesn’t want to watch anyway, Bernadette thought to herself, so all she could do now was to drop the subject. And that’s exactly what she did since she didn’t want to keep arguing with Barney. She’ll never know what he would come up with, it wouldn’t be fair, so she didn’t need to say that out loud.


	4. Chapter 4

On Wednesday that week, Barney ate lunch with Martha. What they talked about today was about their sisters and cartoons. 

“Martha?”

“Yes, Barney?”

She took her lunch from home as usual. Barney mostly bought his lunch at school.

“Has Lucy talked to you about cartoons lately?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course she has. She’s trying to talk me into watching cartoons with her and Bernadette.”

“Bernadette’s doing the same thing, Martha. Just a few days ago, she asked if I would like to watch cartoons with her.”

“What did she say?” Martha asked. 

“All she said next time she watches a cartoon, she and Lucy will watch them at your house. She hasn’t said when, though.”

“Lucy didn’t say anything about that to me, but I’m sure she will.”

“Looks that way,” Barney agreed.

“I think we should stop seeing one another, Martha.”

“I see your point, Barney. Lucy has been talking about us with Bernadette, right?”

“Of course. She did say something about that.”

“I thought so. Do you want to talk about this some other time? Maybe over the phone? Would that work?” Martha asked.

“That works best as long as our sisters aren’t around to hear us.”

“Let’s talk tonight, then. You do talk in your bedroom, right?”

“Yes, I do, Martha. That way I can have more privacy when Bernadette isn’t listening from the other end.”

“I do the exact thing, Barney. And we don’t get our noses in their business when they talk with each other.”

“That’s for sure. Sometimes it can be hard to have privacy, don’t you think?”

“Yes, I do, Martha.”

Barney and Martha had some classes together, and they are: history, science, French, and gym. The history class they are in is about the Civil War. There was a lot to learn in that class. Barney liked enjoying reading about Lincoln a lot. He also learned recently that Lincoln was the very first Republican since he and Martha are still too young to vote in the general elections, they both thought it made sense to wait until the right time and then register. They have learned a little about politics, but not enough to vote for the future general elections.

Neither Barney and Martha watch the news often at all, but when they do, they mostly watched what was happening with the world. They both normally read the newspaper from school, but they don’t have any at home. Every day in history class, they always start off reading about current events in the newspaper, and then they go from there. Even Bernadette and Lucy are still too young to understand politics.

“What would you like me to walk you to the bus after school?” Barney offered.

“You don’t have to. But you can if you want. How do you want to do it: meet me at the last class or at my locker?”

“How about the last class of the day. How does that sound?” Barney asked.

“I like the idea. Would you mind talking with Lucy about cartoons?”

“What about cartoons do you want me to talk with her about?”

“I know they understand we have other interests rather than cartoons. I’ve heard the saying you’re never too old for cartoons. I know it’s true, but I feel I am too old for those. Don’t you agree?”

“I sure do, Barney. I’ll see what I can do to talk with her about it.”

“I’ll do my best with my sister, too,” he said.

Sometimes Lucy and Bernadette get too far when something like this pops up.


	5. Chapter 5

Lucy and Martha had a little chat about cartoons. Barney was doing the same exact thing with Bernadette. So Lucy and Bernadette still understood what Barney and Martha were saying.

“Lucy, Barney and I are now in high school. We do remember the saying ‘You’re never too old to watch cartoons.’ That may be true to some people, but Barney and I are in high school. We felt by being high school students, it was time to stop the interest in cartoons. I hope you and Bernadette understand.”

“Yes, we do,” Bernadette said.

“Martha and I also feel that you both are getting older and it’s time to stop watching cartoons. We can’t tell you what you can and can’t watch, even if it means cartoons. Maybe this will give you two something to think about.”

“Barney’s right. We can’t tell you what you should and shouldn’t watch. Barney and I are more interested in dating and other activities we haven’t thought about cartoons much. So we’re still not changing our minds about watching a cartoon or two with you.”

“Thanks for sharing, Martha. We have talked about this a while back after watching a few cartoons. Bernadette and I agreed we can give up cartoons just like you and Barney did. We wanted to watch for old times’ sake.”

Even Bernadette nodded, agreeing with Lucy.

“Understandable. We’re sure you both will move on to new interests besides cartoons.”

Barney nodded. Both Lucy and Martha could see he agreed.

“When you two get older, you might be interested in dating like Martha and I are right now.”

Martha gave Barney a plus. 

“Since you have already had your old times’ sake by watching those cartoons on the Disney channel, I am hoping that was the last time to watch cartoons.”

Martha looked at him.

“How did you know our sisters watched that channel?”

“I heard it, that’s all.”

Lucy and Bernadette saw it was their turn to agree.

“You never told me you watched the Disney channel, Lucy.”

“What’s wrong with Disney?”

“Nothing, girls. We thought you would watch Cartoon Network.”

“No way, Barney. What made you think that?”

It was Bernadette that spoke.

“Maybe next week you and Bernadette would show interest in something new and have forgotten all about watching cartoons,” Martha said.

Once again Barney gave his friend another plus. When that week came, Bernadette and Lucy saw Barney and Martha were right about losing interest. 

“Last week we had our fun time with cartoons, huh?”

“Of course, Bernadette. Let’s hope we don’t watch cartoons ever again, even if it means we have our own children.”

Bernadette nodded and then said, “That’s true. At least it was fun while it lasted.”


End file.
